Witch Is Where Magic Lives Now

by Adele Abbott

  “I don’t understand how your grandmother did it,” Jack said. “I was in the kitchen all the time. I would have seen her.”

  “You know what Grandma is like. She can be very crafty. She knew precisely what she was doing.”

  “How many spells does Florence know now?”

  “Until yesterday, she only knew three: ‘Take it back’, ‘magnet’ and ‘hide’. I asked her if Great Grandma had shown her any other spells, and she said that she hadn’t.”

  “Do you believe her?”

  “Yes, Florence wouldn’t lie to me.”

  “What’s your plan regarding your grandmother?”

  “I’m going over there this morning, to have it out with her. I’ll tell her straight that if she tries it on again, I’ll forbid her from seeing Florence.”

  Jack shushed me. “I think Florence is coming downstairs.”

  Moments later, she ran into the room. “Mummy, I have to take some ribbon to school.”

  “What’s it for?”

  “I don’t know. Miss Soap said we had to take some.”

  “Miss Soap?”

  “It’s Miss Hope,” Jack said.

  “Florence, why didn’t you tell Mummy this yesterday?”

  “I’m sorry. I forgot because I was playing with Buddy. Can you get me some ribbon, Mummy?”

  “There isn’t any in the house.”

  “Miss will be mad if I don’t take some.”

  “Okay. Have your breakfast with Daddy, and I’ll try to sort something out.” I turned to Jack, and mouthed, “Aunt Lucy.”

  Aunt Lucy was clearly surprised to see me.

  “Morning, Jill. You’re bright and early. Is everything okay?”

  “No—err—yes, everyone’s fine. Do you happen to have any ribbon in the house?”

  “Lots of it. What colour would you like?”

  “I’m not sure. Florence is supposed to take some into school this morning, but she didn’t tell me until a few minutes ago.”

  “Why don’t you take a length of each one? That should cover it.”

  “That would be great, thanks.”

  While Aunt Lucy was cutting the ribbon, I told her what Grandma had done. She was every bit as angry as I was.

  “That woman gets worse. How dare she go behind your back and do something like that? You must be livid.”

  “I am. It’s not just that she showed Florence a new spell after I’d specifically told her not to, but of all the spells she could have chosen, it had to be that one. What was she thinking? I dread to think what could have happened if Florence had got over the fence. It doesn’t bear thinking about.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to have a word with Grandma, a very strong word. In fact, as soon as I’ve taken this ribbon to Florence, I’ll pop back and have it out with her. There’s no time like the present.”

  “I’m afraid you’re out of luck. I saw her leave the house early this morning.”

  “Any idea where she was going?”

  “No, sorry.”

  “Not to worry. I’ll catch up with her later.”

  ***

  When I arrived at the office, Mrs V was humming to herself and beaming from ear to ear.

  “Good morning, Mrs V. You’re looking particularly happy this morning. Have you won the lottery or something?”

  “No, dear. I really shouldn’t smile. I’m being very unfair.”

  “What’s happened?”

  “You know how Armi laughed at me when I was hit on the head with the acorn? Well, last night, I was looking through the kitchen window when Armi took out the rubbish. He was just on his way back to the house when he was hit on the head by an acorn.” She dissolved into laughter.

  “Mrs V, that’s not very nice.”

  “You’re right, dear, but it did feel a little like Karma.”

  “Those squirrels of yours sound positively dangerous.”

  “They are.”

  “What are you going to do about them?”

  “I’m not sure. Do you think I should shoot them?”

  “You mustn’t do that, or you’ll land yourself in a whole heap of trouble.”

  “You’re right. Armi and I had better put our thinking caps on to see what we can come up with.”

  “Will you be able to wear caps with your poorly heads?” I laughed.

  “Not funny, Jill.”

  “Sorry. In other news, I bumped into our new neighbour from down the corridor.”

  “Is it a hairdresser?”

  “Actually, no. She’s a dog groomer.”

  “How lovely. That’ll mean we’ll have lots of cute dogs coming in and out.”

  “It’ll certainly be an improvement on the clowns. And, talking of dogs, we have one now.”

  “Since when?”

  “A couple of days ago. Florence has a little Chihuahua called Buddy.”

  “How lovely for her. Are the two of them getting on alright?”

  “Florence loves Buddy to pieces.”

  “And Buddy?”

  “He puts up with her. I think that’s the best we can hope for.”

  “You’ll be able to take Buddy to Bubbles.”

  “That lazy dog doesn’t go outside long enough to get dirty.”

  Winky was sitting on my desk, and he had a face like thunder. Thankfully, though, there was no sign of the freaky eye patch.

  “Good morning, Winky.”

  “What’s good about it?” he snapped.

  “What’s wrong with you? Did you get out of bed on the wrong side this morning?”

  “I’ll tell you what’s wrong with me. I’m not happy about having a dog groomer down the corridor.”

  “Why not?”

  He rolled his eye. “In case you hadn’t noticed, cats and dogs are sworn enemies. Having that place down the corridor will make my life very difficult.”

  “I don’t see why. Most of the time you come and go through the window. Anyway, I’m pleased to see you’ve got rid of that horrible eye patch.”

  “I haven’t. It’s in the wash. In fact, I’m going to buy another three.”

  “The same as that freaky one?”

  “Yes, but in different colours.”

  “But they’re horrible.”

  “Says you.”

  ***

  Rather than have me travel around the country to interview her relatives, Caroline had insisted they come to the manor house. The first of those interviews was with Caroline’s brother, Ransom Tyler, who Mulgrave always referred to as Mr Ransom.

  Mulgrave met me at the door and led the way across the large hallway.

  “Lady Tweaking has designated the Marble Room for your interviews, madam. It’s to the rear of the property.”

  He opened the door onto what was a small, rather bland room.

  “I don’t see any marble, Mulgrave.”

  “There isn’t any, madam. When the children were young, they used to play marbles in this room, and the name stuck. Do take a seat. Mr Ransom should be with you shortly.”

  I had a choice between a worn-out sofa or a couple of worn-out armchairs, so I opted for the one closest to the window, which was the best of a bad bunch. The room was slightly warmer than the hallway, but nowhere near as warm as the dining room where I’d met with Caroline on my previous visit.

  I’d only been waiting for a few minutes when in walked a tall man who looked about the same age as Caroline. He had a pale complexion, striking blue eyes, and more than his fair share of hair.

  “I assume you’re Mrs Maxwell.”

  “That’s right. Call me Jill. And you must be Mr Ransom?”

  “It’s Ransom. Just Ransom. Only Mulgrave calls me Mr Ransom.”

  “Thank you for agreeing to speak to me today.”

  “I didn’t have much choice in the matter. I honestly don’t know why it was necessary for me to drive halfway across the country for this meeting. Surely you could have come to me?”

  “I�
�d have been more than happy to, but your sister—”

  “I might have known this was her idea. Typical of her. Alright, I suppose we’d better crack on with this. What is it you want, exactly?”

  “I’m trying to establish what happened to the Tweaking Goblet.”

  “And I assume my sister thinks I stole it, does she?”

  “She’s made no such suggestion to me. I’ll be speaking to everyone who was present on the day it went missing. The day of the birthday celebrations.”

  “Celebrations?” he scoffed. “It was a miserable affair. I’ve had more fun at a wake.”

  “I believe you spent some time in the games room, playing billiards?”

  “I did. Anything to get away from that boring, awful gossip. Dominic and I played a couple of games. I won of course.”

  “Did you happen to notice if the goblet was in the room at the time?”

  “Yes, it was.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Positive.”

  “Caroline said she didn’t have any idea why someone would want to steal the goblet. She called it ugly and of little value. Can you think of any reason why someone should have taken it?”

  “None at all. I don’t often agree with my sister, but she’s right about the goblet. It’s a grotesque thing that can’t be worth more than a couple of hundred pounds as scrap. Personally, I wouldn’t give it house room. Whoever took it is welcome to it. I can’t imagine why she’s wasting good money, hiring you to try and find it. It’s not as though she has money to spare. Just look at the state of this place. It’s an absolute disgrace. My parents would turn in their grave if they could see what had happened to this magnificent building.”

  “I understand the family has had a few financial problems.”

  “That’s the understatement of the decade, and it’s all my sister’s fault. If I’d inherited the estate, this would never have happened.”

  ***

  I’d no sooner left Tweaking Manor than I received a text from Aunt Lucy, which simply read, ‘Grandma is home.’

  Right! It was time for a showdown.

  I magicked myself over to her house and knocked loudly on the door.

  “What’s all that noise about? I’m not deaf, you know!”

  “I’d like a word with you.”

  “I’m rather busy at the moment.”

  “I don’t care. This is important.”

  “Very well, then. I was just about to make myself a cup of tea. You can put the kettle on.”

  “I don’t have time for a drink. We need to talk.”

  “This had better be good.” She sighed. “What’s so important that you’re keeping me away from my cup of tea?”

  “You came over to our house yesterday and showed Florence how to use the ‘levitation’ spell.”

  “What of it?”

  “I thought we’d agreed you wouldn’t show her any more spells. Don’t you realise how dangerous it could have been if she’d levitated herself over the fence and fallen into the river?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Jill. I deliberately made sure that she wouldn’t be able to get as high as the fence. I’m not stupid, you know.”

  “This simply isn’t on, Grandma. If you can’t respect my wishes, not to teach Florence any more spells, I will forbid you from seeing her.”

  “Forbid me!” she scoffed. “And how exactly would you do that?”

  It was a good question; how would I stop her?

  “I just don’t understand why you insist on doing it, Grandma.”

  “Because, young lady, I think you’re making a very serious mistake by restricting your daughter’s access to magic.”

  “That’s for Jack and me to decide, not you.”

  “What’s that human got to do with it?”

  “That human is my husband. And Florence’s father.”

  Until Florence was born, the only person who’d known that Jack knew I was a sup was Daze. When my daughter came along, I bit the bullet and told my immediate ‘sup’ family: Grandma, Aunt Lucy and the twins. They were, of course, all sworn to secrecy.

  “Have you forgotten how you felt when you discovered that you’d been a witch all your life but hadn’t known?”

  “That’s different.”

  “How is it different?”

  “Because I—err—because it just is.”

  “That’s a very compelling argument. Can’t you see you’re doing exactly the same thing to Florence? She’s going to grow up not understanding what it is to be a witch.”

  “She already knows she’s part human, part witch.”

  “A witch who isn’t allowed to learn magic isn’t a witch.”

  “It’s important for her to settle into the human world first. Then, when she’s older—”

  “That’s nonsense,” Grandma interrupted. “The girl must be allowed to be a witch right now. If you wait, it will be far more difficult for her to adapt. Just like it was for you. You don’t even allow her to come to Candlefield.”

  “Yes, but—”

  “But what? Why won’t you let her visit the paranormal world? She’s a sup, Jill. She should spend time in both worlds. You’re not being fair to the child.”

  “I’m only trying to do what’s best for her.”

  “I know you are, but you’re failing her. Just think about it. If you continue on this road, what will happen when her invitation from CASS arrives on your doorstep?”

  “I hadn’t even thought about that.”

  “Well, you should. It’s obvious that any daughter of yours is bound to be invited to attend CASS.”

  “I’m not even sure I’d want her to go there.”

  “Are you serious?” Grandma snapped. “Are you telling me that if Florence received an invitation from the most prestigious school in the paranormal world, you’d deny her that opportunity?”

  “No—err—yes—err, I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it.”

  “It strikes me that you haven’t thought about any of this. I suggest you go away and give it very careful consideration.”

  “Okay, I’ll—err—I’ll have another chat with Jack.”

  “That human should have no say in it.”

  “Jack is Florence’s father. We’ll decide together.”

  “Just make sure you come to the right decision. You don’t want your daughter growing up to resent you, do you?”

  Chapter 9

  I left Grandma’s house feeling dazed and confused. The encounter had not gone at all as I’d expected. I’d gone in there, all guns blazing, but by the time I left, I had to admit that some of the points she’d made were valid.

  I was still standing outside her house, in something of a daze, when Aunt Lucy called to me, “Jill, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Are you sure? You don’t look it. Why don’t you come inside, and I’ll make you a cup of tea?”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  While Aunt Lucy made the drinks, I told her everything that Grandma had said.

  “You probably don’t want to hear this, Jill, but I think your grandmother may have a point.”

  “So do I. That’s the problem. I was convinced that we were doing the best thing for Florence. We just want to protect her.”

  “Of course you do. Everyone understands that, including your grandmother. None of this can be easy for you or Jack. The last thing I want to do is make this even more difficult for you, but I’d be less than honest if I didn’t say that it would be lovely if Florence could visit us here in Candlefield.”

  “I know. I’d love to bring her over, but is it the right thing to do? The right thing for Florence, I mean?”

  “Only you and Jack can make that decision.”

  “I’m going to talk it through with him tonight.”

  Aunt Lucy handed me the tea. “Why don’t we go outside, and sit in the back garden? It’s a lovely day. It might help to clear your head.”

  “Okay.”

>   We took our drinks outside and sat on the bench.

  “The garden is looking fabulous, Aunt Lucy.”

  “Thanks. It ought to be after all the time I spend in here these days.”

  Two years earlier, Aunt Lucy’s neighbours, the Bees, had moved to a larger property, to accommodate their growing family. Not long afterwards, Charlie Roundtree, a wizard, had moved in next door. Retired and a widower, Charlie was a mad keen gardener, and it had been his influence that had re-sparked Aunt Lucy’s interest in gardening.

  I took a sip of tea. “Didn’t you say you were going to enter a competition this year?”

  “That’s right: Candlefield in Bloom. The judging takes place at the end of next week, so I’m starting to get nervous.”

  “You must be in with a great chance. Those flower beds are absolutely stunning.”

  “I appreciate you saying that, but it’s nowhere near as good as Charlie’s.” She gestured to the house next door. “Take a look.”

  I got up from the bench, walked over to the dividing wall, and looked at next door’s garden.

  “That’s beautiful too. There’s nothing to choose between them, in my opinion. It’ll be difficult for the judges to pick a winner.”

  By the time I’d finished my tea, my head had cleared a little, and I felt ready to return to the office.

  ***

  As I made my way up the stairs, I could hear voices coming from the outer office. Talking to Mrs V was Jules, who I hadn’t seen for almost a year. She had a young baby in her arms.

  “Jules, how lovely to see you.”

  “Hi, Jill. I hope you don’t mind me calling in like this.”

  “Not at all. You’re welcome to pop in anytime. And this little darling must be Harry. He’s gorgeous.”

  And for once, I wasn’t lying. Harry really was a handsome little boy.

  “Gorgeous he may be.” Jules managed a half-hearted laugh. “But he’s a little monkey. He never sleeps. I can’t remember the last time I slept for more than two hours at a stretch.”

  “I know what that feels like, but trust me, it will pass.”

  “I do hope so. I’m exhausted.”

  “Have you decided if you’ll be returning to work, Jules?”